Abstract

The group of women at the cross of Jesus (John 19:25): A narratological perspective. The women portrayed at the cross of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel (John 19:25) are often discussed in commentaries and studies on this part of the Gospel. However, as far as can be determined, they have not yet been studied from a narratological perspective. This matter is therefore addressed in the current study. In narratological terms, the women function as a group character, and they are introduced into the narrative world of the Gospel in 19:25 as standing at the cross of Jesus. After a brief overview of the issues that are normally addressed by Johannine scholars when these women are discussed (the number of women, how the list of women mentioned in the Fourth Gospel should be related to the lists in the Synoptic Gospels and the function fulfilled by the women), they are analysed from a narratological perspective. Amongst the issues that are investigated are the composition of the group character, the layers of contrast that may be detected by the reader between the group character and the four soldiers and the defamiliarising effect that ambiguity concerning the number of women may have on the reading process.